When It Rains
by The Genius Mage
Summary: Friendship fic. It was bad enough that Serah was getting married to Snow in less than a week, now she had to deal with a whole new problem regarding Hope on top of monster raids and familiar voices all in her head. Whoop dee freaking doo. Post-game.
1. Day One: Storm

~*_When It Rains*~_

_It pours._

~*X*~

_Day One: Storm_

**She** didn't see why it was such a big deal.

_"You're a real lifesaver, Lightning!"_

_"Thank you so much, Lightning!"_

Honestly, Bartholomew acted like taking Hope for five days was an amazing, generous favor. She had enough room in her house for a guest, she _liked_ the amiable boy, and she was relatively confident that he wouldn't be a problem. What was all of the appreciative fuss about?

The soldier curled her fingers into a tight fist, frowning irritably at the watch that Serah had bought for her. 9:43 AM. The train was due to arrive in two minutes, give or take.

It had been six months since the fall of Orphan and the rest of the Fal'Cie under it. After about a week or so of panic and frantic scrambling to figure out what to do, the refugees of Cocoon collected themselves and created a new council. This council, known as the Chrysalis Board, had been attempting ever since to get society back into some kind of working order. Having had depended on the Fal'Cie for years uncounted, it was going to be rough, to say the least.

The Chrysalis Board had named themselves after the second stage of a caterpillar, as both a nod to Cocoon itself and to the fact that the committee believed firmly that there was a lot of promise and beauty that could be garnered from the city, if only everyone would work together. Their motto? "Every cocoon must bloom."

Of course, there had been talk of renaming Cocoon "Butterfly", but _that_ had been shot down by virtually everyone.

Was Lightning part of the Chrysalis Board? Yes, she was. Not politically, since she had no time for all of that economical crap—Sazh was better at it anyway—but if there was something wrong that could be solved by violence or common sense; she was the one to go to. Her superior, Amodar, was in charge of the new-and-improved PSICOM—though _technically_ he was the one helping the Board out with all of the preparations. She was usually out on patrol with everyone else making sure wild Pulsian monsters weren't slaughtering dozens.

Even now, Cocoon and its society were still chaotic and unstable, but things were greatly starting to settle. Oerba, since most of the buildings were intact, was being purged of monsters and Cie'th so that they could start moving people in. Everything just might work out fine in the end…

So apparently Snow thought that his wedding to Serah could finally happen, though to his credit he had patiently been waiting for the right time. Their engaged status would only last for five more days, then the ceremony would be held and Lightning would have a new brother-in-law.

It was enough to make her scowl. She may have a new understanding of Snow, but he was still an imbecile.

But he made Serah happy and had the potential to keep her safe. That was more than enough.

Lightning looked up from her watch, snapping out of her thoughtful reverie as a train roared into the station. Glancing down again, she realized that three minutes had passed without her even realizing it.

Bodhum's railway station was a sleek, elegant thing. It was still intact, even if a bit shaken, thanks to the joint efforts of Fang and Vanille. Cocoon was still inhabitable, in the broader sense of things, but a special lift had been constructed to transport civilians from the City in the Sky down to Gran Pulse. Colonies and towns were being constructed down on the lower world, but mainly the populace was too frightened to leave the shelter of their home.

They'd come around in time.

Light gleamed sharply off of the black train as it slid to a stop with a sound akin to nails screeching on a chalkboard. Those in the station, be they waiting for loved ones or for a ride, were then joined by the mob exiting the express.

The soldier shifted her weight to her other leg, blue eyes scanning the crowd for a familiar face. Sure enough, she picked out his untidy platinum hair as he slid through the pedestrians without too much trouble, turning this way and that as he undoubtedly tried to locate her.

Briefly, she considered doing something idiotic like shooting into the air to make her presence known. The mental image made the corners of her lips twitch upwards, but instead she opted to call out to him.

"Hope!"

The boy's gaze shot towards her, so abruptly that she was a little astonished. A grin split his face before, to her confusion, promptly lessening into a tamer, more reserved smile. He trotted over, sneakers squeaking against the tiles, one hand raised in way of a greeting.

Lightning studied him curiously, concerned about the change in his expression that she had been privy to. "It's good to see you," she remarked in her typically husky voice. "How's your father?"

Again, Hope seemed to be fighting to keep his face from displaying his emotions, though his green eyes glittered with something like _smugness_. "He's fine," he assured her. "It's good to see you too, Light."

_What's up with him? He looks so…stoic._

The soldier shrugged her armored shoulder—(the metal plate now bore an extra glowing yellow stripe)—turning and gesturing for him to follow. "Let's get out of here, Hope. We can talk on the way."

He picked up his stride and fell into step next to her. "About that…"

Tossing him a sideways glance, she asked somewhat wryly, "What now?"

He took a deep breath. "My name isn't Hope anymore."

Unexplainably, Lightning's blood ran ice cold. She stopped, forcing him to do the same, and she knelt down so that her eyes were at his level. His expression shifted momentarily before resuming its impassive mask.

_That's what it is. A mask. _

The familiarity of that hit her _hard_. It was the same thing she wore practically every day, after all. Unlike him, her façade was flawless and none of her shock showed at all. The only thing that changed was her eyes, which hardened to chips of ice.

Lightning said nothing, just waited expectantly and made it clear that she was _not_ amused.

Hope hid his uneasiness well, his voice even. "My name is Storm."

"Storm."

His head jerked down once. An affirmative.

_Oh…no…_

The elder of the Farron sisters brought her hand to her face and sighed deeply. Where to start? At the beginning, naturally. "When did this happen? I just heard from you a week ago."

If Hope was a dog, he'd probably have flat ears right now. "On my birthday."

"Your birthday," Lightning breathed, remembering the event. It had been only two days previous, but she had been unable to make it to Palumpolum because of a monster attack. A sizable one too, striking the construction workers laboring away in Oerba. She had sent him a gift though, along with a card. Just like how Serah had felt, she had wanted to give him something to protect himself with besides his flashy boomerangs. A knife, which operated like a smaller and less lethal version of her gun-blade…

She kept her tone flat and cold, which she could see worried him a bit. Good. "_Why_?"

"My dad. Mom. Vanille. Fang. _Everything_." He averted his eyes for a heartbeat before meeting hers with a strong conviction burning in his emerald irises. "Dad's still heartbroken, and he's really busy, being part of the Board and all. Cocoon is in disarray, and everyone is working themselves to death. Especially you."

Normally she'd have objected, but Lightning just continued to glare.

"So now I'm fifteen." A pause, where he presumably gathered his thoughts. "Still not an adult, but I want to help. I want to be a different, stronger person for my dad, and our friends…Mom…Vanille…"

The way Hope's voice softened on Vanille's name reminded the soldier how close he had been to the Oerban. The two had been either like best friends, brother and sister, or even something more. Her…absence, must have hit him—and Sazh, who likely saw her as a daughter—particularly hard.

"So you see?" Hope continued, his resolution a brilliant force that shimmered like fire behind his pupils in contrast to Lightning's ice. "I don't want to just be me. I don't want to be Hope. If I become someone different, maybe then I can be strong for everyone…and you, too."

Lightning's tongue was tied helplessly. _She couldn't criticize_, and it was _annoying the hell out of her_. Why? Because he was acting just like her! There wasn't a single thing she could say without coming off as a hypocrite, and he probably knew this too. He was changing himself, becoming someone else stronger and braver like how she had long ago dropped the mantle of Claire.

But she hadn't wanted this for him. Maybe she was a bad influence?

_Damn it,_ she growled mentally. _Damn this whole thing to hell._

"So again," Hope announced pointedly. "My name is Storm."

"Let's go." The solider turned on her heel and stalked off, leaving Bodhum Station with the newly christened Storm close behind her.

Feeling helpless was a God awful feeling.

~*X*~

She still lived in the same house, albeit none of its rooms had seen much use besides the bedroom. Serah had gone off to live with Snow, and the whole place seemed emptier without her, though she'd never admit it.

The beach was easily noticeable nearby, the artificial waves created by the water rebounding off of Cocoon's shell in constant motion. Crystallized spires of Ragnarok's handiwork were visible in the clear blue sky, sparkling the color of early dawn.

Lightning said simply, "What's mine is yours," as she opened the doorway to her home. She watched as Hope—she _refused_ to see him as Storm—entered with one gloved hand tightly gripping his navy bag.

If she remembered correctly, Bartholomew was dealing with something for the Chrysalis Board and had suggested that Hope go stay with one of his friends for a few days. He promised to be back in time for Serah's and Snow's wedding, leaving Palumpolum not long after calling Lightning.

Speaking of which, it was early yet but she had plenty of things she needed to do. Visiting Serah was one of them; patrol on Pulse was the second. But first…

Beckoning for him to come with her, the soldier walked up the white carpeted stairs, red cape swirling. Everything had clearly been refurbished and renovated, since Lightning had a secret liking for the most recent of technology, with the interior of the house being nearly spotless. Neither of the Farron sisters were particularly messy occupants.

"Your place is really nice, Light," Hope commented behind her. He paused to look out a window, eyes inquisitive but his expression utterly composed.

Lightning stilled at the compliment before moving on. "It belonged to my parents."

There was no response. Opening a door on the second story, she nodded at the almost entirely empty room. It had glossy wooden floors, two bookshelves with only a few tomes left, a bed, and a dresser. The main color scheme was comprised of whites and blues, with a window open wide, drapes billowing in the breeze.

"This was Serah's room. You can stay in here, I doubt she'll mind." Stepping aside, she let him drop his luggage on the ground unceremoniously. "Bathroom's down the hall." After a moment of hesitation, she realized that her sharp tone—she hadn't used anything like it since they had become friends—was possibly making him feel miserable. She added in a gentler fashion, "Do you need anything else?"

Hope seemed heartened by her change, this time facing her completely instead of uneasily peeking every now and then, checking for a reaction. "No, I'm fine. Thanks, Light, I really mean it. Um…" Catching the very boyish speech impediment, he swiftly went on in an effort to cover his nervous blunder. "Where are you going?"

"To see Serah. Come if you want." Lightning headed away, and he jogged hurriedly to her side.

"You're angry." It wasn't a question.

"This is ridiculous,_ Storm_," she seethed, fists clenching. The soldier paused only to let Hope pass so she could lock the door of her beach house.

He pivoted to meet her gaze unflinchingly. "It's the same as you, _Lightning_."

_Don't do this. Don't throw your childhood away, when there's still so much of it left…_

The words wouldn't find their way out of her heart though, so the former L'Cie just shook her head, pink tresses swaying. She honestly wished there was something she could say, but again, he was doing exactly what she had done, once upon a time. One day, maybe near, maybe far, Hope would be hidden somewhere deep inside of Storm.

The only ones that truly knew of Claire's existence were Serah and their dead parents. Lightning herself had even long since stopped thinking of herself as Claire. To make matters worse, she had taken on the role of guardian for Serah when_ she_ had turned fifteen…

Eyes shut tight; Lightning brushed past Hope and set her steps in the direction of Snow's nearby home.

_Damn it. I don't know if this is irony or karma._

For some reason, the soldier had the impression that she heard familiar laughter echoingly distantly in her head. Fang…? Great. Now she was going crazy. Whoop de freaking doo.

"Okay, I'm sorry Light. Don't be mad with me. But I _need_ to do this."

"No you don't." She glowered at a bunch of seabirds that were flocking together in the middle of the beach, which was quite inconveniently in her way. As if understanding the language of her death glare, they practically ran each other over in their efforts to escape. They took to the air in a pale mass of feathers coupled with a spray of sand kicked up by multiple pairs of talons.

"Did anyone tell _you_ not to change yourself?" Hope challenged, and she refused to look him in the eyes, lest she see the determination burning there.

"Yes."

"Did you listen?"

She clamped her mouth shut since the answer was obvious, and she sensed the self-satisfaction coming from him in waves. For the first time, she wanted to punch him like she did Snow. Unlike with Snow, she kept her hands to herself.

Upon actually arriving at the sturdily built structure that was the home of Snow and Serah, Lightning didn't even bother with knocking. She merely let herself in, turning the knob and finding the door unlocked. Doubtlessly her sister was expect—

"Cl—Light!" Serah's tongue tripped over the first sounds of the soldier's true name, switching to Lightning's preferred nicknamed amongst friends and family. She practically skipped towards her sister and hugged her tightly, and the eldest Farron returned it without pause.

It made her so happy, to see her sister being so lively and cheerful. To Lightning, it was the best gift she could have ever asked for. No longer was Serah crystallized, and she _never would be again._ This time, and all the times after, she wouldn't fail to believe, to listen, to protect…

Serah didn't miss a thing. Pulling back but leaving her hands on her sister's shoulders, she frowned just a tad. "Is something wrong?" She queried in a lower tone as Snow burst in from a side room and practically crushed the startled Hope in a bear hug. She didn't bat an eyelash at her beloved's antics.

Who else could possibly be better to talk to? "…Do you have a minute?" She muttered.

The youngest Farron nodded. "Of course." To Snow she promised, "Light and I will be right back."

The muscular blonde tilted his head to the side curiously before simply shrugging. "Alright, that's fine. Hope! Let's get you something to eat, huh, bud? I bet Light's forgotten that normal people still need nutrition!" All of this was said whilst slapping the smaller boy heartily on the back, causing him to stumble and lose his breath for whatever he was about to say.

_Probably regarding his stupid name._

"Nutrition? I didn't know you knew such a big word," the soldier retorted sarcastically. Simultaneously, she cringed guiltily. She _had_ forgotten to ask if Hope wanted anything to eat after the train ride from Palumpolum, but she _had_ inquired about anything he might have needed earlier…

Clearing her thoughts with a quick mental shake, Lightning went after Serah as she passed through several rooms. She had to admit, Snow certainly was making an effort to take care of her little sister so far, and they weren't even married yet. The pair came out on the back patio, the faux ocean rumbling with enough force nearby to rival a real one.

Serah clasped her hands behind her back, her expression scrutinizing. "What's the matter, Claire?"

Of all the people in the world, Serah was the only one that still called Lightning Claire. She put up with "Light" while there was company, however.

"…It's Hope. He's being…" An idiot? A nuisance? An _imitator_? "Difficult," she finished lamely.

"How so?"

She crossed her arms and exhaled sharply, clamping her eyes shut tight. A fierce headache was already brewing, and the day was just getting started. "He's changing his name. Wants to be called 'Storm'."

"Oh…" Serah murmured thoughtfully. She leaned back against the dark wooden rails, fingering the silver cat earring Snow had given her. NORA's mark. "He's taking after you?"

"Apparently."

Her sister gave her a long, intelligent look. Her response was slow but certain. "You're a good person, Claire. No one knows this more than me. I can see why he would try to be like you."

"But he _shouldn't_. Don't you see? I had to become Lightning—" She moved to better position herself to observe the sea, its tireless shifting comforting. Her back was turned towards her sister in the process. "—In order to provide for us. Hope still has a father, and I don't know why he needs to turn into a different person to become stronger when he's plenty strong already. No other fourteen year old could have done what he did."

A quiet, mirthless laugh caught her attention, and she glanced over her shoulder at her sister.

Serah smiled ruefully. "Claire, that's exactly what I thought when you told me to call you Lightning from now on."

The awful, _ghastly_ irony of the situation completely enveloped her then, and the eldest Farron sister sighed from somewhere deep inside. "What should I do?" She asked, almost defeated.

Her sister patted her back reassuringly. "Maybe you should let this thing run its course. It could be just a phase."

"It wasn't for me, and_ he_ won't let it be one either."

"Then…" Serah bit her lip. "Try to talk him out of it. If you want, I'll get Snow to—"

"That idiot will make it worse," she spat, not really meaning what she was saying. Lightning was just _frustrated_ more than anything.

She pouted. "Don't talk about Snow like that, Claire, please."

"Sorry," she muttered. "I'll figure something out."

"That's the spirit! It's not a matter of can or can't, there are some things you just _do_, right?" Serah grinned brightly at her sister, and Lightning cracked a small smile.

"Right. And I'm going to get him to drop this 'Storm' thing."

With that, the sisters went back inside and found Snow attempting to cook _something_ in a pot, with Hope wearing his impassive mask, but kind of failing at being indifferent thanks to his constant rushing around the room to prevent the food from being wholly inedible.

"Light, did you know that Hope is calling himself _Storm_ now?" Snow asked incredulously, stopping to stare at her in alarm.

"Yes," she ground out from between her teeth, as Serah groaned and went to stand by her fiancé.

"Snow," Serah began gently. "Don't turn this dial up so high."

He blinked at her sheepishly, and then went back to addressing Lightning. "Guess there's nothing we can do, is there?"

"My mind's made up," Hope agreed, and again all Lightning saw was someone that was going to have a future a lot like herself. She did _not_ want that. Not for him, not for…herself…

Her bewilderment morphed abruptly into fury, and she grabbed the hilt of her gun-blade so tightly that her knuckles turned white. Whipping around, she barked roughly over her shoulder, "I'm going to work, I'll try to be back by evening."

A chorus of good byes rang out after her, but the loudest was Hope's, and that just made her all the more enraged.

Maybe a few hours of monster patrol would do her, and her short temper, some good.

* * *

_Author's Note: Greetings everyone! This story will be about five or six chapters long, nothing overly fancy. My apologies in advance for any characterization or story errors, it's a lot to keep track of. Reviews are always welcome and appreciated!_


	2. Day Two: Be Like Me

_Day Two: Be Like Me_

**Lightning** was woken up by the sound of chirping. It took her tired mind a few seconds to recognize the noise as the melody of the birds just outside her window, and she rolled over, closing her eyes again.

Then, with a startled jerk, she sat up and snatched her alarm clock from her bedside table. "Damn," she growled, dropping the thing unceremoniously. 8:09 AM. She hadn't slept this late in a long, long time. Not since she and the others had been L'Cie, anyway.

However, before she could spring to her feet and try to salvage the morning—she was an hour late for work, yesterday had been an exception—Hope stuck his head into her room without knocking.

"Hey Light, I just wanted—" His eyes shot open wide as he saw her in her sleeping clothes, modest though they were, and he hastily backpedaled out. She rolled her eyes as she heard him cough and endeavor to reclaim his mimicry of her usual hoarse tone. "You're not late, don't worry. Amodar called. He told me to make sure you get some rest today, and if you try to come in anyway, you're fired."

That figured. Her boss was always worried about her overworking herself, and she had practically cleaved a trail of bodies all across Pulse yesterday, fueled by her annoyance. "So you turned off my alarm?"

"Yup, I mean, yeah."

Well. At least she knew it wasn't broken.

The woman stared blankly at her hands, and she was kind of surprised by how tired she still was. Typically, she could go at least four days or so without much rest. Odd. But hey, since she wasn't doing anything else…

"I'm going back to sleep," she announced, falling back onto her bed and draping an arm over her eyes. "If you need money or anything, just take it from my pouch on the kitchen table."

"Alright."

With that, she exhaled slowly and let her consciousness slide away.

~*X*~

_Thunk-thunk-thunk._

How irritating, that sound. What the hell was it?

_Thunk-thunk-thunk._

Groaning, Lightning opened one eye and flinched at the intensity of the sun. She glanced at her alarm clock and saw that it now read 10:54 AM. Not _too_ bad, but far longer than she liked to be in bed. She slung her legs over the side of her mattress and said aloud, "What is it?"

"I thought you might be hungry," Hope answered. "I don't know for sure, but…do you want me to make you something…?"

"Let me get dressed and we'll go out." Once more, his imitation of her mannerisms was seriously starting to irk her. She'd straighten this whole "Storm" thing out today, tomorrow at the latest. Had Bartholomew known about this and sought to get the soldier to fix it? Odds were…

There was likely no need for her military uniform—if Serah was aware of her impromptu day off, she'd be in trouble with her sister for wearing it anyway—so the eldest Farron grabbed a more casual outfit and put it on. The looser, softer material felt strange against her skin, which was long accustomed to firmer clothes.

Brown and black were safe colors, she decided. Matched her and wasn't likely to reveal dirt or other such things that might materialize during battle, if she got in any unexpected fights.

…The beginnings of an idea were starting to form in her head. She smirked simply because Hope couldn't see her, and clasped her gun-blade's sheathe onto her waist just in case. Lightning Farron was _not_ going to be caught unarmed.

Opening the door, she stated casually, "Let's go."

Hope nodded and followed as she led the way out of the house.

"How did you sleep?"

"Great. Thanks for having me, Light. Where do you want to eat?"

The soldier stopped and looked down at him, studying the hardening edges of his mask. If she didn't hurry and correct this problem, it was going to become permanent. "Doesn't matter to me. Pick something."

"Okay…Yesterday I saw a café called _Golden Star_, ever been there?"

Lightning searched her memories. "Once, maybe, with Serah." Without further ado, she walked off in the direction of the restaurant. She was relatively certain that she knew what place he was talking about. As was the norm, the beachside was crowded and frilled seabirds fluttered near the roaring tides. People laid out towels on the warm sand whilst couples flirted shamelessly with one another against the backdrop of the blue sky.

Cocoon's synthetic ceiling was actually missing its sun and weather—Phoenix and its subordinate Fal'Cie had maintained the artificial climate. Now that they were gone along with Orphan, the City in the Sky was forced to expose itself to the world outside for the first time._ Natural_ sunlight and_ natural_ wind warmly stroked the skin of the people living within the encased settlement, feeling so very different from that which had been generated by the Fal'Cie.

Hope waved at someone from NORA—she thought it was Yuj—before he asked her, "While I'm staying with you, can I help at all?"

The soldier lifted one shoulder before letting it fall. "Don't worry about it. You're a guest."

He picked up his pace, eyes earnest. "But I _want _to help."

"It's not a problem." Fortunately the _Golden Star_ came into sight, and she silenced him by pointing at the outdoor café. "That's the one you saw, right?"

A nod and a sigh. "Yeah."

She felt Hope's glower scorch her skin. Clearly, he was irritated, probably due to several things. She was pretty sure that one of them concerned her refusal to address him by his new name, or to even say any of his names at all.

The _Golden Star_ had a light, family friendly feel. Lightning herself wasn't very hungry, but when the waiter came to ask them what they wanted, she ordered the first two things on the menu. Hope rattled off something else.

_He wants to be like me?_

She rested her chin on her hand, one elbow on the glass table. Blue eyes narrowed faintly.

_Let's see if he has what it takes._

"Storm?"

The platinum-haired boy looked away from the glimmering water, and for a second she glimpsed his real face before the mask slid back down again. "Yeah, Light?"

"Have anything planned today?"

His brow furrowed. "I don't think so. Snow wants me to swing by his place later, but I think Serah said the same thing to you..."

Lightning displayed a brief, nasty smirk before it disappeared. She took a sip of the iced tea that was placed before her, never moving her gaze from Hope's. "There's something I think we should do."

Clearly unnerved, though struggling futilely to hide it, he seemed unable to get his voice to work so he merely nodded in agreement instead.

~*X*~

"Where are we going?" Hope questioned, really working to keep up with Lightning's unrelenting stride.

"We're going to find someplace secluded," she remarked idly over her shoulder. She made no attempt to slow down, jumping nimbly from rock to rock as they scaled a small tumble of boulders. As she landed, she glanced around, surveying the area.

A clear, sandy spot with no footprints in sight, flanked on one side by sizable stones and by a thin fringe of trees on all other sides except for the one that opened out to sea. Perfect. The soldier placed one hand on her hip and watched her protégé as he scrambled with a bit less grace and dignity than her to cross the rocks. They were roughly forty minutes or so from the main beachfront.

He took in their surroundings for a few seconds, and then started hesitantly, "Are we waiting for something?"

Slowly, making it clear what her intentions were, Lightning gripped her gun-blade's handle and drew the sword with a fluid, practiced motion. She assumed her battle stance, pointing the tip at the boy. Now most people would have been frightened to be alone with her, especially when considering her temper, but Hope didn't even flinch.

"…Light…?"

"You want to be like me?" She kept her tone cold and cynical, not hard to do at all for her. Placing both hands on the hilt, she arched her arm over her shoulder as if she was about to swing, and swing _hard_. "Show me what you're made of."

This time, "Storm" paled a little. Then recollecting himself, he flipped his boomerang open and met her gaze.

"Ready?" Without waiting for a response, she charged at him so fast that the poor boy didn't even have time to throw. The world narrowed itself down to Hope and _only_ Hope, and she sprang up high, twisting herself in midair and doing the opposite of what he had expected—a headlong attack. Instead she maneuvered her gun-blade _while upside-down _and used the flat of it as a club, slamming the side of his head. Forcefully, but with only a small fraction of her considerable strength.

He groaned and fell onto his side, and she landed easily behind him. She watched impassively as Hope blinked multiple times, clearly trying to get the stars to vanish from his vision. Suddenly, he whipped around and tossed his boomerang.

Lightning blocked it. It came back of course, but she just continued to parry it without too much difficulty. As he raised his hand to catch it on its final return trip, she switched her sword to its gun mode and fired a warning shot that whizzed just past his ear.

Hope broke eye contact, shoulders hunched. "I know," he grumbled.

Dismantling her weapon and stashing it back in its holder, she arched her eyebrows silently. Not even out of breath.

"I'm still used to having magic," admitted the boy grudgingly. "So without someone else to distract the opponent for me—"

"You leave yourself wide open to attacks. Preemptive strikes would be the best course of action for you."

His gloved fists clenched. "Teach me how to use a gun-blade. Then I won't be so vulnerable."

"No."

Surprised, he looked up at her. Again, his mask had splintered, and she caught several different emotions flashing through his eyes and moving across his face. Shock, hurt, sadness…

Walking over to him, she placed a hand on his shoulder and stooped to his level once more. "How to explain…To start with, I don't know if your father would be okay with that."

"Why not?"

Another eyebrow was lifted. "A fifteen year old boy getting battle training from a soldier on the use of lethal weapons? Nothing wrong with that," she remarked sardonically.

Hope clearly thought that this point was debatable, but all he said was, "What else?"

"I don't think you have the build for it."Here he frowned, shifting his weight from leg to leg, and she went on to clarify. "Your arms. They aren't accustomed to the weight of a gun-blade—it's a lot heavier than your boomerangs."

"I can fix that," he argued.

A small smile turned the corners of her lips up, and she ruffled his hair affectionately, straightening. "It's not something that you can do overnight. If you get your father's approval, I'll teach you." Turning, she made to head out of their obscure sandy spot.

…Only to have a boomerang twirl dangerously close to her face before looping around behind her.

She pivoted sharply to face Hope, astonished to see a renewed fire burning in his green gaze. He deftly caught his weapon and went right on staring.

Lightning drew her gun-blade. Maybe she was teaching him something after all, besides how to change his name.

~*X*~

Despite Hope's persistence at their impromptu training session, there hadn't been a single time where he had succeeded in besting the female soldier. Though she had a few scrapes, he was easily in worse condition and Lightning ended up using a Manadrive on him. It wasn't that she had gone overboard; it was simply the fact that he had refused to stop fighting so she could treat his injuries without resorting to the synthesized magic.

All the while, she had been studying him, watching him, endeavoring to find a way to remove that mask of his once and for all.

"I've got an idea," Lightning announced casually to her sister. It was late evening, and she and Serah had stepped out onto the back porch for another one of their friendly chats. It was a common thing that Snow had the sense not to disturb, and Hope was much the same.

Serah smiled. "Really? What is it?"

"Hope seems intent on becoming like me. Wants to learn how to use a gun-blade too. It's because of me that this whole 'Storm' thing happened." A moment of silence, in which Lightning lowered her head and stared at the ground.

Her sister moved closer, curiosity radiating from her, head tilted slightly to the side.

"You're going to love this." She cracked a minuscule grin.

"I'm going to love _what_, Claire?"

Lightning took a deep breath. "If I want Hope to drop his mask, to stop trying to be Storm, I'll have to drop my own. I'll…I need your help with that."

* * *

_Author's Note: My apologies on the length of this one. The chapters of this will probably switch from long to short. Because of that, I'll try to get the next one out as fast as I can. Reviews are appreciated._


	3. Day Three: Drop the Charade

_Day Three: Drop the Charade_

**Serah** was at Lightning's house early the next morning, with Snow off doing whatever it was that he called a "job". The soldier was scheduled for some routine patrols in Pulse, and naturally Hope wanted to come. According to Amodar, he was qualified enough to tag along.

Serah had been training as a medic, and would be assisting Lightning for today.

As Hope moved about in the kitchen, making tea for the three of them, Lightning frowned, her gaze wholly concentrated on a whorl in the wooden table. "When he comes in here, I'll tell him."

"Tell him that you're not going to be Lightning anymore?" Serah answered quietly, peeking back at the boy who hadn't heard.

"Yeah," was the short reply. Inwardly, she recoiled from the idea of it. She had been Lightning for years, had _become_ Lightning. If anything, Claire and Lightning were one and the same. But now, in order to set a good example for Hope—a life that she _refused_ to ruin—she was determined to get through this obstacle, and drop her charade. It was only a mental thing, after all. If her two selves were the same person, what did it matter what name she went by?

Clasping her hand reassuringly—Serah's skin was smooth and unscarred—her sister smiled. "It's good to have you back, Claire."

Lightning returned the smile weakly, hiding it again as Hope came in with a tray.

"I'm not sure how you like your tea," Hope apologized to Serah as he put a cup in front of her. The younger Farron nodded and assured him that it was all right before looking at her sister meaningfully.

The response was an annoyed glance that read, _Give me a second._

Lightning found her thoughts turning towards the evening previous, not long after her initial conversation with Serah regarding her name change. She had decided to humor her sister and tell Snow about her decision just to see his response.

_"You're not kidding with me, are you?"_

_"No," she had snapped icily. "I'm doing this because I think it will benefit Hope."_

_Snow merely examined her curiously. "Of course it'll benefit him. No offense, Light, but you're not exactly the _best_ role model."_

_Lightning clenched her teeth and nodded reluctantly. She had to admit that her short temper and questionable attitude probably weren't the kind of attributes that should be mimicked by children. "No worse than you."_

_He ignored that. "Don't forget that there's a difference, Light. A difference. You can't just say you're Claire again but still act like Lightning. You'll have to be like how Serah said you used to."_

_"What did she tell you?"_

_Snow rubbed the back of his head, his eyes drifting off to the right. "Well…she said you used to laugh and smile a lot more often than you do now. Apparently you used to express interest in a double wedding with her." He broke into laughter at the mere prospect of it, but quickly shut his mouth after receiving a frosty Death Glare from Lightning. "So...Hope must be pretty important to you if you're doing all of this."_

_She crossed her arms and stared down at the floor. "He's…" What _was_ Hope to her? A little brother? A son? She wasn't entirely certain. The only thing she knew for absolute _sure_ was that if anything happened to him, she'd be devastated, as if she had lost Serah._

_Snow clapped her on the shoulder, and for once Lightning permitted the contact. "You're becoming a _real_ role model now!" He encouraged with a cheerful grin._

_Her only response was a scoff._

"Storm," Lightning announced out of the blue, cutting off Serah's and Hope's conversation.

"Yeah?"

She narrowed her eyes to slits and gazed at him evenly from across the small table. "I have something to say."

Hope glanced at Serah who shrugged, sipping her tea. Looking back at Lightning, he gave her an expectant stare.

"This name change of yours is idiotic." She raised a hand to cut his objection off. "But I'm glad you did it. I can see how ridiculous my _own_ name is." A pause, and Lightning Farron took a deep breath. Serah was watching her with intelligent, kind eyes. "Let's stop this stupid charade _together_."

"Do you mean…?" He was frozen in the action of pouring syrup on his pancakes, and it was starting to reach alarming measures of sugary nectar on his plate. His mask had practically vanished.

That was good. Now hers would have to follow, like it or not.

"Drop your new name, and I'll drop mine. Deal?" Lightning waited for his reply, her heart twisting itself into tangles in her chest. The ache was both familiar and unwanted. Nervousness that she worked so very hard on hiding…

He thought about it for all of five seconds, but she could see the cogs turning in his head. At last, he nodded. "It's a deal, Li—I mean, it's a deal, Claire."

Through sheer effort of will, Claire let her emotions show clearly on her face. After so many years of hiding them, the action had become subconscious and now it actually took a cognizant effort to show how pleased she was.

Serah grinned widely. "I was wondering where my older sister had gone."

"Well…she's back now," she grumbled in response, again, she had to forcefully remove her mask so that her smile was visible on her face and not just in her eyes.

Hope, on the other hand, had no problem falling right back into his old self. "I can't believe it. I mean, you've been Lightning since…since you were fifteen or something, right? Why would you change yourself again, for me?"

Sensing her sister's curious eyes on her at his question, Claire ducked her head and muttered an evasive answer. "Because Storm is the most unoriginal name I have ever heard."

And that was true enough.

~*X*~

Patrolling Gran Pulse was something that Claire had begun to enjoy. The beautiful, breathtaking scenery was interesting to look at, whilst the vicious bloodthirsty monsters kept her on her toes, so to speak. Yes, she enjoyed it quite a bit.

(Sometimes, she fancied that she could hear Vanille and Fang when she went out alone.)

She had to admit, she was worried about Serah, her delicate though somewhat adventurous little sister. However, she stayed close behind Claire, and Hope kept an eye out behind them as they walked the typical patrol route that had been established.

One thing that Claire did _not_ need was a platoon of soldiers. On certain days she gave lessons, but most of the time she didn't interact with them much unless the situation called for her presence. If there was a monster problem, she handled it alone. They had a nasty tendency to get in her way, and Amodar knew that she was far more efficient by herself or with her particular group of friends.

To be fair, there _were_ a few soldiers that she found she could tolerate, but Claire had never been a particularly social person. Most of the troops whispered fearfully of her, actually a little intimidated of the older Farron, but she didn't care. Never had, never will.

One of the giant, flying, dragon-like creatures passed by overhead, and Serah gasped at the massive jaw that existed on its _back_. Its purple and white scaly hide glittered in the afternoon sunlight.

"Hey Light—er, Claire, do you remember what Fang and Vanille did to one of those things?" Hope said behind her.

She shifted through her memories of the duo. The young woman remarked over her shoulder, "Of course I do, they tamed it and we rode it around for a while."

"You _rode_ one of those? How?" The bag on Serah's back clinked and jangled as the various First Aid equipment that she carried around rattled against one another. Manadrives were strapped to her waist, glimmering darkly.

"You'd have to ask Vanille, and Fang," Hope told her, sadness tingeing his tone.

Claire looked at him sympathetically. "Wherever they are, I have a feeling that they're fine."

Hope nodded, fists clenched. "Yeah."

"I wish I could have met Fang," mused Serah, her eyes never once leaving the green fields and rocky terrain around them. Undoubtedly, everything fascinated her. "And Vanille seemed like a nice girl, when I spoke with her."

"If Vanille was anything, it was nice." Hope's tone was defeated again.

"And absurdly energetic," Claire commented dryly, her fingers tightening around the handle of her gun-blade. Why was her heart going so fast all of a sudden? There seemed to be an electric tingle in the air, and the wind had died.

"Claire…"

"I feel it too, Hope. Serah, stay close."

Her sister walked nearer, tense but not afraid.

A familiar, low drone filled the silence. It came rhythmically, again and again, the sound repeating itself with a tired groan.

That meant only one thing.

"Cie'th," Claire snarled, drawing her gun-blade and settling into her battle stance. She took out the knife that had been her birthday present and passed it wordlessly to Serah.

Hope unfolded his boomerang. "I think it's one of the flying kinds." Fortunately, Amodar had pulled some strings and gotten Hope authorized to use Manadrives. The artificial magic was just as potent as his old magic, though it had limited charges.

"Cie'th?" Serah whispered, hands drawn up to her chest. She fiddled with her flashy necklace nervously, but her eyes were shrewd as she surveyed the area. "It must have wandered awfully far."

Indeed, that seemed to be the case. The rumpled green fields of grass that brushed the Massif before scaling upwards were usually devoid of the treacherous monsters, but Claire had heard that sound far too much to ever dismiss it as anything other than a Cie'th of some shape or form.

She felt it. Or rather, _sensed_ it. A faint, soft shift in the air, an unnatural breeze that screamed a warning to her "soldier's sense" that allowed the athletic young woman to spring backwards just as a Cie'th came hurtling from the sky.

It hit the ground hard, moaning in agitation upon finding its claws empty. It was a big one, for a winged Cie'th, with loose black-brown skin and cracking crystal. Clearly, it was an old specimen of its kind, reaching the end of its life cycle before it became a Stone.

The explosion of dust and dirt that its undignified landing sent up temporarily blinded Claire, but it was merely a setback. She retreated, her eyes searching the roiling clouds for signs of Serah and Hope, and was relieved to find them perfectly fine.

Bright orange fire roared out and abruptly consumed the Cie'th. It thrashed as Hope shoved Serah behind him whilst the girl sprinted a safe distance away, fumbling with a Manadrive of her own. Claire lifted her gun-blade and fired at the distorted humanoid face that leered at her from a split in the beast's tattered flesh.

Dark blood spurted from the wound and it yelled wordlessly in agony. Flapping its scaly wings, it took to the air and dive-bombed her, but she back-flipped neatly out of the way and landed easily on the tips of her toes, ready to dash aside at a moment's notice. After all, a moment was likely all the time she would get.

Blizzard magic coated its back as Hope struck again, this time followed by a successive round of blows from his boomerang. It wheeled around, screeching, and Claire fought to earn its attention again. Swiftly reaching into her pouch, her fingers closed around the smooth, cool surface of a Ruin Orb, developed in the same vein as the Manadrives. She lobbed it at the fiend, and there was a heartbeat of delay before it detonated. The white blast claimed half of its face, and the Cie'th thrashed, wildly slicing with its claws and the barbs on its wings as if it could reach the trio.

Serah, Claire noticed out of the corner of her eyes, was watching them carefully. The cool green light of a Curaga Manadrive was gripped tightly in both of her hands. At least they weren't going to die from poison or wounds, since as a medic, it stood to reason that she would have an Esuna Manadrive also.

The Cie'th began to stagger, to her immense relief, and Claire struck lightning fast. She felt the heavy, thick exoskeleton of the monster start to shatter and bend as she sliced it apart, and its groans became increasingly more high-pitched as it wailed helplessly, falling victim to both her attacks and Hope's swiftly rotating boomerang.

Its counter came so fast that she had no time to block, to react.

Quick as a blink, the Cie'th rotated sharply in midair and stretched its wings wide, slicing open Claire's chest and sending her flying backwards. She hit the earth hard, all of the breath leaving her lungs as the blue sky flipped positions insanely with the ground, unwilling to stay still. Before she had time to register much else, Serah's Curaga hit her and she struggled back to her feet.

Hope was retreating hurriedly as the Cie'th doggedly pressed toward him with its deathly groan coming periodically, like clockwork. It ignored the boomerang's impacts and prepared to lunge as the scared boy sought to unclasp a Manadrive from his belt.

Claire's eyes shot open and she jumped, bringing her gun-blade's point crashing down into the hollow in the beast's neck. It screamed, flapping hard and taking her skyward as Serah and Hope called after her in terror.

Nothing would stand _still_. The flying Cie'th was a menace at cartwheels, flips, loop-de-loops, name it and it was performed at least once. In the middle of a corkscrew, she nearly lost her grip on her weapon, but she gritted her teeth and bore it, even as her muscles began to ache and her stomach knotted itself into nauseous folds. The heavens whirl-pooled uncontrollably, and she wondered distantly how high the damn thing was taking her.

_This has to stop._

She repositioned herself on the Cie'th, digging her heels into large gaps between its hard flesh and tossed another Ruin Orb at its face in an attempt to blind it, and hopefully send it back to the earth where she could finish it off. She was far from stuck, if necessary, she'd make use of her gravity-altering device that was always with her. It had gotten them safely off of a lot of high jumps back during the L'Cie escapade after all.

The Cie'th moaned low in its throat and dropped out of the sky at a startling rate. Claire tried not to focus too much on the rapidly approaching grass plain, instead she opted to pulled out her gun-blade and gouge at the humanoid face until it was nothing but a bloody pulp.

_Then_, mere instants from the soil, she kicked off of the Cie'th and snapped her fingers, landing safely in the purple energy field that sprang up to greet her. The weightless feeling vanished as she shut the machine off, and she watched with a small smirk of victory as the winged monster crashed to the earth in a mound of splintered crystal, black blood, and shredded stone-like skin.

There was a brief pause.

"Wow, Claire." Serah's mouth had dropped, to her sister's amusement. "You didn't even change your expression!"

Hope grinned, clearly proud of his mentor. "She did stuff like that all the time, back when we were fighting Barthandelus."

Claire was going to reply, but then, impossibly, she saw the Cie'th stir. "Get out of the way!" She ordered sharply, but the platinum-haired boy didn't stand a chance, she knew, since he wasn't as light on his feet as she or Fang. Though by no means was he out of shape.

She dashed forward, his protection the only thing on her mind, and shoved him out of the way just as the Cie'th loomed up and crashed down on her in a mountain of fractured glass. Pain exploded all across her body, but she was long accustomed to its touch. She lifted her shoulders, braced her hands against the grass, and shoved hard to get the nearly dead monstrosity off of her.

It slid off with a death rattle, its last ditch effort to kill her over, and settled down with a final sigh.

"Light!" Hope was too horrified to remember to call her by her real name, something she was oddly grateful for. She tried to understand why he was looking so freaked out, but then she glanced down.

Blood was pooling in shining rivulets around her, staining her uniform and carrying an unnatural tint to it. She frowned, trying to work past the insistent buzz of pain in her mind, when a burst of pure agony detonated throughout her entire system.

She gasped, falling onto her side and clenching her teeth sharply against the paralyzing wave.

_"Oh no, Fang! She's poisoned, isn't she?"_

The familiar, accented voice of Vanille sounded clearly in her head, and Claire frowned, wondering if it had only been brought about by the toxin running through her veins. She didn't really get much more out of that train of thought, because then another wave crashed down over her and it took all of her willpower not to scream aloud.

"Hope!" Serah was one of two things capable of piercing the injured soldier's haze of pain. "Doesn't Esuna cure poison?" The panicked tone to her voice worried her.

"It's supposed to!" Hope took the Manadrive from her and activated it. The pale purple radiance swept across the almost unconscious young woman, but did nothing for her condition.

"Maybe it's not refined enough yet. We need to get her to a hospital!" Serah said decisively, standing and straining to keep her voice even.

Claire's breath escaped her in a gasp as another crippling ripple of venom spread through her body. It felt like millions of spike shards were imbedded in her skin. Hell, it might be the truth, considering that the crystalline Cie'th had just tried to engulf her. She sat up with great difficulty, blinking burning blood out of her eyes, to see Hope busy administering to the worst of her wounds with several Manadrives at his side. She directed her cloudy, toxin-blurred gaze onto her sister instead. "My pouch, there's a communicator. Call Amodar," she rasped.

"Don't talk, Claire!" Serah did as she was told anyway, succeeding in locating the little device. She clicked it on and spoke with a surprisingly calm voice, telling the answering soldier what had just transpired. One of her hands gripped Claire's tightly, avoiding the small gemstone fragments puncturing her like acupuncture needles.

"Light…I mean, Claire…this is all my fault. If I—" Hope started, but she cut him off.

"No it's not," she growled back, tensing as another poisonous pain wave washed through her.

His green eyes were dull with guilt. "Just…just hang on, okay?"

"I'm not going to die," she promised him quietly. "I'm not going to leave you or Serah."

_"Oh wow, she's so strong!"_

_"Vanille, you should know that already. Our little sunshine is the core of our group."_

"Did you hear…?" Claire began to say, but got interrupted again. The pain was getting worse, blistering with the force of a thousand burning torches applied to her skin. This time she couldn't stop a hiss, and she screwed her eyes shut tight.

"They're coming, okay? Just don't talk, rest up, conserve energy. You're not going to bleed to death, at least, but I can't remove some of these shards without the proper tools." Serah brought her sister's hand to her face and kissed it. "Please don't leave me, Claire. I don't know what I'd—"

"_I'm_. _Not_. _Going_._ To_._ Die_." Each word was spat out roughly, and the soldier glowered at two members of her small family, daring them to challenge her.

_"I dunno, Lightning. That poison is some pretty potent stuff."_

_"Fang! You said—"_

_"I know what I said. Cheers, eh? She's already hanging onto consciousness longer than anyone else that ever got poisoned."_

_"Then why did you doubt her? She's not going to die, is she?"_

_"Don't worry, Vanille. This won't stop her any more than Barthandelus and all the Fal'Cie above and below the world."_

Oddly, Claire thought that their mental conversation was…soothing.

"I know you're not going to die," Hope announced suddenly, his conviction strong. "Serah and I won't let you. Right?" He looked at his companion for reassurance.

"Of course."

Claire smiled weakly, but the next time the venomous ripple struck, even she couldn't resist the dark temptation of blackness.

She found herself thinking that maybe Claire had done something that Lightning _wouldn't_ have done, and this whole thing could have been avoided if she had never changed her name.

* * *

_Author's Note: Whoo boy, sorry for this late update. School got crazier than usual. Anyway, don't worry, this won't interfere with the wedding too much. I wanted to try and add some action into this story, since I've noticed a lot of Final Fantasy stories set in this period tend to lack it. Reviews are love! I'll try to get another chapter up soon!_


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